On February 8th, the rover Curiosity used its drill to bore a hole into a slab of flat bedrock, marking the first time we have probed deeply into the interior of a Martian rock in search of the secrets of Mars' past it may hold.

Scientists are looking for elements and molecules that signify life as we know it. But even if they don’t find those molecules, minerals contain important information about the Martian environment. That could help scientists determine if life could have survived on the planet.

Sand . . . we play in it, we stroll on it, we make castles out of it, but what do we really know about it? The size, shape and location of a grain a sand can tell us a lot about it's origin, makeup and history.